


The Long, Dark Walk

by INMH



Series: hc_bingo fanfiction fills 2019 [31]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: (i added extra dialogue), (sort of), Blood, Drama, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Novelization, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 03:29:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20717345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INMH/pseuds/INMH
Summary: Partial novelization of a scene: Matt and Jessica trek through the mines.





	The Long, Dark Walk

_I don’t think I’ve **ever** heard Jess go this long without speaking._  
  
That wasn’t the most charitable thought Matt could have had, but it was true.  
  
Jess was limping along the mine with him, moving slowly and not making a sound. Blood soaked her face, her jacket, her jeans- the same monster that Matt had seen had pulled her down into the mines, dropping her through a roof, apparently- she hadn’t given him all the details. She was covered in bruises and, of more immediate concern, gashes that were still bleeding.  
  
Matt wasn’t a doctor, but he knew that Jess needed to see a doctor sooner rather than later.  
  
“Is there anything I can do?” He asked awkwardly when Jess made a pained sound, after walking up a couple of small steps.  
  
Jess shook her head. It occurred to Matt for the first time that apart from being traumatized, Jess had likely lost a lot of blood; she was probably light-headed and a little confused. With alarm, he considered that if she were to pass out, he would not be able to carry her out of the mines. Matt was a pretty strong guy, and Jess wasn’t very big, but she would be too heavy and unwieldy for him to lift- especially, God forbid, if they had to take off running at a moment’s notice.  
  
They couldn’t really _stop_ though, either: It was way too cold for that, and every moment they delayed meant that Jess would lose more blood. If they got back to the lodge, surely Josh would be able to direct them to some sterile bandages. He had been coming here since he was a kid, he had to know what sort of protocol to follow in this situation, just like he’d known what to do last year when Beth and Hannah went missing. Of all of them, he might have been the best-equipped to deal with this.  
  
And maybe he could, once they were out of the damn mines.  
  
“It never ends,” Jess whispered eventually, voice weak. “It just keeps going and going. We’re going to be down here forever. We’re going to die here on the mountain, just like Beth and Hannah.”  
  
Matt stilled; Jess did not, and bumped into him. He had to catch her before she could topple over and hurt herself. “Easy,” he said.  
  
“I can’t keep going,” Jess said. “I can’t.” It wasn’t a whine, or a pissy, lazy complaint, and that was what scared Matt. If Jess had been being stubborn, if she had been throwing a tantrum and not wanting to walk anymore, Matt could have worked with that- but this wasn’t a complaint, it was a statement. Jess was badly injured and exhausted and cold, and she was getting close to physically not being _able_ to move anymore.  
  
“You have to.”  
  
“I _can’t_.”  
  
“You _have_ to. Please, Jess- I can’t carry you, and I won’t leave you.” Matt gave her arm a tug, pulling her along, and however much trouble she was having moving, Jess followed. “It’s okay. It can’t be too far. We’re-”  
**_  
RARH._**  
  
The sound was sharp and short, but was magnified by and echoed down the tunnel. Matt and Jess turned- and though they saw nothing, sounds came from the darkness: Movement.  
  
Something was coming.  
  
“Come on, Jess.” Matt motioned for her to follow him behind a flimsy wooden wall, and he _knew_ it wouldn’t be enough to truly hide them, but maybe whatever was coming wouldn’t notice them in the dark if they stayed still and silent. “Shh,” he urged Jess as she hugged herself and leaned back against the wall.  
  
Behind them, something moved.  
  
It didn’t echo the way the other sounds had, and Matt knew that whatever was there- it didn’t sound human, it didn’t sound like a person or even an animal- was right behind them. The thought made him sick, made his heart pound and his head hurt. It scuttled along the passageway and then, thankfully, down and out of the way.  
  
Jess tipped forward, and Matt just barely managed to catch her around the shoulders again again. She was shaking badly, a hand pressed over her heart, though she had managed not to whimper. Was that the same creature she had told him about, the one that had thrown her into the mines? Was it the same one that had nearly killed him before?  
  
Matt didn’t know, and he didn’t really want to find out.  
  
“_Ah_,” Jess croaked, cringing.  
  
“Does this hurt?” Matt asked, gently withdrawing his hands. She had so many injuries, some of them sufficiently covered by her shirt and jacket, he couldn’t tell if he was hurting her or not.  
  
“Oh God,” Jess whimpered, not answering.  
  
They didn’t have time for this; they needed to get out, sooner rather than later. “Alright,” Matt said, lifting the lantern and peering warily down the passage both ways. There was silence now, and he didn’t see any movement in the darkness. “Let’s go. We gotta do this got to get out of here. Come on!”  
  
They started down the tunnel again. Matt didn’t like it- this was the way the creature had gone- but what choice did they have?  
  
“Jess!” She was lagging again, and Matt hoped that maybe he could spur her on, get her to move a little faster. This wasn’t a matter of cold or injury anymore- this was a matter of immediate danger. “Jess, come on.”  
_  
RHRHRRR._  
  
Matt froze, eyes widening.  
  
A shape appeared behind Jess in the dark.  
  
“_Jess!_”  
  
She didn’t even turn to look; she could hear it now too.  
  
The monster hopped along the walls, not lunging or attacking- yet. In the little light they had, Matt could see that it was grotesque: Long, bony arms, mottled white-gray flesh, and a face straight out of a nightmare. He turned and hurried down the tunnel, Jess following behind as quick as she could-  
_  
Light!_  
  
Matt saw the sky through the slats of a board-wall and lunged forward, driving his shoulder through the old planks- they splintered and fell away easily. The momentum kept him moving forward, and Matt _just_ managed to avoid toppling over the ledge of a cliff. The forest floor was easily thirty yards or more down: Certain death if one were to fall from this height. “_Whoa!_”  
  
Jess grabbed his hand, pulling him back away from the ledge and off to the side of the wall. “Okay,” She whimpered, tugging him to the wall. “Okay, okay, okay.”  
  
They both froze, stood perfectly still as the monster sprung out onto the ledge.  
  
It looked around, but didn’t see them- whether because they weren’t moving, or because of the darkness, Matt didn’t know.  
  
All he knew was that he nearly wept with relief when it turned around and crawled back into the mine.  
  
“Oh my God,” Jess croaked, pressing her hands to her face.  
  
Matt doubled over, hands on his knees. “_Hoo._ Holy shit. We did it. Now we just have to… Find a way to get back to the lodge.”  
**__  
BOOM!**  
  
Noise erupted in the early dawn, and a bright puff of smoke and fire rose over the trees and into the air.  
  
Matt stared.  
  
Jess looked up at him and gave a helpless little shrug.  
  
“Found it.”  
  
-End


End file.
